Steamboat Landing demolition underway

Construction crews are clearing the way for the new $54 million Canandaigua Finger Lakes Resort to be constructed in place of the restaurant on Lakeshore Drive.

The project will include a five-story, 60-foot structure with 111 rooms and a conference space that will hold up to 400 people. Additionally, there will be 47 fractional unit rooms — similar to condominiums or time shares — that customers can purchase for one-sixth of the year. It will also have a spa, retail space and 40 boat slips, said Murphy.

“We’re looking forward to having demolition completed by the end of the month,” project spokesperson Erik Rhodes told Messenger Post.

The timeline of the rest of the project, Rhodes said, is uncertain.

Canandaigua City Council approved the demolition of the restaurant during a March meeting last year. Genecco had to get the city’s permission for the demolition because it holds a mortgage — through a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) loan — that uses the property at 205 Lakeshore Drive as collateral. Because of this mortgage, a change — such as demolishing the restaurant — had to first be approved by City Council.

In September, the Ontario County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) voted to approve multiple tax incentives for the lakefront hotel, including waiving the sales tax associated with construction of the building and the mortgage recording tax — an estimated $120,000 in savings.

At the time of the approved tax incentives, Canandaigua City Manager David Forrest said that the city will receive an estimated $150,000 in new property tax generated annually from the hotel.

Dave LeClair, a code enforcement officer with the city, said the landowner, David Genecco, was issued and picked up demolition permit and site development permit in October, 2013. Since then, it’s been a waiting game. Rhodes said the inclement weather was likely a factor in the delay, but he can’t say for sure.

In a June, 2013, interview with Messenger Post, Bob Murphy, of Macedon Excavating and Paving, Inc. who partnered with Genecco for the project, said the project has been 33 years in the making.

“It’s been on the books for 33 years; Dave’s had (the property) for six years,” Murphy said. “He’s been the only one able to bring it to the table. ... Dave’s put his whole life savings on the line for this.”

They are aiming to open the hotel in spring 2015, Murphy said.

Residents have been anxiously awaiting progress on the project since Steamboat Landing closed permanently more than one year ago. The eatery was open at the lakefront location for 12 years before closing Feb. 3, 2013.